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Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

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The Episcopacy
:"As regards the Moscow Patriarchate and its hierarchs, then, so long as they continue in close, active and benevolent cooperation with the Soviet Government, which openly professes its complete godlessness and strives to implant atheism in the entire Russian nation, then the Church Abroad, maintaining Her purity, must not have any canonical, liturgical or even simply external communion with them whatsoever, leaving each one of them at the same time to the final judgment of the Council (Sobor) of the future free Russian Church."<ref>[http://www.orthodox.net/articles/anastasy-will.html The last will and testament of Metropolitan Anastassy, 1957], December 28, 2007</ref>
ROCOR viewed the Russian Church as consisting of three parts during the Soviet period: 1. The Moscow Patriarchate, 2. the Catacomb Church, and 3. The Free Russian Church (ROCOR). The Catacomb Church had been a significant part of the Russian Church prior to World War II. Most of those in ROCOR had left Russia during or well before World War II. They were unaware of the changes that had occurred immediately after World War II&mdash;most significantly that with the election of Patriarch [[Alexei I (Simansky) of Moscow|Alexei I]], most of the Catacomb Church was reconciled with the Moscow Patriarchate. By the 1970s, due to this reconciliation, as well as to continued persecution by the Soviets, there was very little left of the Catacomb Church. [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn ]] made this point in a letter to the 1974 [[All-Diaspora Councils|All-Diaspora Sobor ]] of ROCOR, in which he stated that ROCOR should not "show solidarity with a mysterious, sinless, but also bodiless catacomb."<ref>[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/cat_1974.aspx The Catacomb Tikhonite Church 1974], The Orthodox Word, Nov.-Dec., 1974 (59), 235-246, December 28, 2007.</ref> The fact that the catacomb Church had essentially ceased to exist was de facto recognized when, as Communism was about to finally collapse in Russia, ROCOR began to establish "Free Russian" parishes in Russia, and to consecrate bishops to oversee such parishes, and never recognized any alleged Catacomb bishop as having a legitimate episcopacy.
Finally, the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union precipitated a crisis in ROCOR, because the very reason that had initially resulted in its separation from the Moscow Patriarchate had been removed, and so the basis of the consensus that had previously united ROCOR began to unravel. There were those who did not believe that the Moscow Patriarchate was yet free from the control of the KGB, and that in any case they had not sufficiently renounced the policies of Metropolitan Sergius. There were also those who believed that regardless of the political situation in Russia, that the question of Ecumenism had become sufficient grounds for continued separation. But after the August 2000 All-Russian Sobor of the Moscow Patriarchate, in which the MP officially condemned the Branch Theory of Ecumenism, and also renounced in principle, if not in name, the policies of Metropolitan Sergius, the question of reconciliation with the Moscow Patriarchate become an unavoidable question that had to be resolved, one way or another.<ref>[http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/statusquo.htm Status Quo, ROCOR?], December 28, 2007.</ref>
===Rapprochement with Moscow===
[[Image:Laurus alexii signing.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The signing of the [[Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate|Act of Canonical Communion]] by Patr. Alexey II and Metr. Laurus]]
After the election of Metropolitan [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus]] as First Hierarch of ROCOR in 2001, a steady process of rapprochement occurred between ROCOR and the [[Church of Russia|Moscow Patriarchate]]. Multiple official visits were been exchanged between hierarchs and other clergy of both churches, and the date for restoration of [[full communion]] was officially announced by both sides.
==The Episcopacy==
: ''See '''[[List of bishiops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]]'''''The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia currently has eleven thirteen [[bishop]]s serving nine [[diocese]]s throughout the world, two along with one retired bishops, and two candidates for the episcopacybishop.
===Ruling bishops===
*Metropolitan [[Hilarion (Kapral) of Sydney|Hilarion (Kapral)]] of New York and Eastern America, First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Archbishop of Sydney, [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Australia and New Zealand]]*Archbishop [[Alypy (Gramanovich) of Chicago|Alypy (Gamanovich)]] of Chicago and Mid-America*Archbishop [[Mark (Arndt) of Berlin|Mark (Arndt)]] of Berlin, Germany and of Great Britain*Archbishop [[Kyrill (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco|Kyrill (Dmitrieff)]] of San Francisco and Western America* Archbishop [[Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Manhattan|Gabriel (Chemodakov)]] of Montreal and Canada*Bishop [[Michael (Donskoff) of Geneva|Michael (Donskoff)]] of Geneva and Western Europe*Bishop [[Gabriel John (ChemodakovBērziņš) of ManhattanCaracas|Gabriel John (ChemodakovBērziņš)]] of Montreal Caracas and CanadaSouth America
===Vicar bishops===
*Bishop [[Daniel (Alexandrow) of Erie|Daniel (Alexandrow)]] of Erie, Vicar of the President of the Synod of Bishops for the service of Old Believers*Bishop [[Agapit (Gorachek) of Stuttgart|Agapit (Gorachek)]] of Stuttgart, Vicar of the German Diocese*Bishop [[Peter (Loukianoff) of Cleveland|Peter (Loukianoff)]] of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America*Bishop [[John (Bērziņš) of Caracas|John (Bērziņš)]] of Caracas, Administrator of the Diocese of South America*Bishop [[Theodosius (Ivashchenko)]] of Seattle, Vicar of the Diocese of Western America.*Bishop [[George (Schaefer)]] of Mayfield, Vicar of the Diocese of Eastern America.*Bishop [[Jerome (Shaw)]] of Manhattan, Vicar of the Diocese of Eastern America.
===Retired bishops===
*Bishop [[Ambrose (Cantacuzène) of Geneva|Ambrose (Cantacuzène)]], Retired, formerly of Geneva and Western Europe*Bishop [[Varnava (Prokofiev) of Cannes|Varnava (Prokofiev)]], Retired, formerly of Cannes, Vicar for of the Western European diocese ===Bishop transfered to Moscow Patriarchate===*Bishop [[Evtikhii Jerome (Kurochkin) of Ishim|Evtikhii (KurochkinShaw)]] of DomodedovoManhattan, Patriarchal Vicar for of the service Diocese of the parishes in Russia which had been under ROCOREastern America.
===Suspended bishops===
*Bishop [[Agafangel Benjamin (Rusalenko)]], suspended. Formerly bishop of Black Sea and Kuban* [[Agathangel (Pashkovsky) of Odessa|Agafangel Agathangel (Pashkovsky)]], suspended. Formerly bishop of Odessa and the Crimea
===Reposed bishops=First Hierarchs==*Metropolitan [[Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev|Anthony (Khrapovitsky)]] (reposed on August 10, 1936, in Sremsky Karlovtsy, Serbia)*Metropolitan [[Anastasy (Gribanovsky) of Kishinev|Anastasy (Gribanovsky)]] (reposed on May 22, 1965)*Metropolitan [[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret (Voznesensky)]] (reposed on November 21, 1985)*Metropolitan [[Vitaly (Ustinov) of New York|Vitaly (Ustinov)]] (reposed on September 25, 2006, in Mansonville, Canada)*Metropolitan [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus (Škurla)]] (reposed on March 16, 2008)*Archbishop [[Vitaly (Maximenko) of Jersey City]] (reposed in 1960)*Archbishop [[John (Maximovitch) of San Francisco]] (reposed on July 2, 1966, glorified as a saint on July 2, 1994)*Bishop [[Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky) of Boston]] (reposed on February 15, 2002)*Bishop Metropolitan [[Alexander Hilarion (MileantKapral) of Buenos AiresSydney|Alexander Hilarion (MileantKapral)]] of Buenos Aires New York and South Eastern America (reposed on September 13, 2005)
==See also==
*[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/01newstucture/pagesen/articles/svassasobor.htm "Glory be to God, Who Did Not Abandon His Church": The Self-Awareness of ROCOR at the Third All-Diaspora Council of 1974], by Nun Vassa (Larin)
<!--- * [http://www.pravos.org/index.htm Commission Dialogue Moscow Patriarchate-Church outside Russia] --->
*[http://pageswww.prodigysaintjonah.netorg/frjohnwhitefordarticles/voicesofreason.htm Voices of Reason], a collection of articles in response to those who oppose the reconciliation of ROCOR with the MP
[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Moscow Patriarchate Dioceses]]
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